Welcome to National Ballet of Canada Fall 2010! This is just a friendly reminder not to miss your Canada-Wide Ballet Class with Taskmaster Rex Harrington today from 2 to 3:30, who will visit you in your home-Albeit courtesy of the web!

_________________The world revolves around the beauty of the ballerina.

The National Ballet of Canada Posts Surplus2009 Annual General Meeting

October 6, 2010... The National Ballet of Canada reported today that 2009/10 was an outstanding season, both artistically and financially. Audiences embraced the extraordinary range of repertoire, from classics to world premieres. A strong box office and donor support, combined with prudent expense management, resulted in a surplus for the year.

Lucille Joseph, Board Chair of The National Ballet of Canada, announced today that the company earned revenues of $25,531,000 with expenses at $25,129,000, resulting in a surplus of $402,000 (1.5%) for the 2009/10 season. The Annual General Meeting was held today at 1:00 pm at The Walter Carsen Centre for The National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.

"We are very proud to have achieved this positive operating result despite the uncertain economic climate," said Ms. Joseph. "There is no doubt that under the leadership of Artistic Director Karen Kain, the stature of the National Ballet grows every year."

Kevin Garland, Executive Director of The National Ballet of Canada, thanked Lucille Joseph and the Board of Directors. "The entire company, with the help of the Board, worked tirelessly this season. Our box office and donor support was up and every expense line was analyzed and, where possible, reduced. We are all extremely pleased and fulfilled by the result and I thank everyone throughout this great organization."

Ms. Garland commented that one of the year's highlights was the purchase of a building to house the company's Production Centre, to be named The Gretchen Ross Production Centre for The National Ballet of Canada. "The year was much more than recovery from the economic challenges of the previous season," said Ms. Garland. "It was a time when the company looked forward with the purchase of its own Production Centre for the construction and storage of all the company's cherished productions. The move to our new facility was spearheaded by two Board members: Gretchen Ross and Jerry Lozinski. Seeing an opportunity to save on annual rental expenses while providing a better working environment, they instigated this move with leadership donations. The federal government matched these gifts with a Cultural Spaces Canada grant, which secured 63% of the required funding. The remaining funding will be raised through a targeted capital campaign."

The company had 361 performances and outreach events in the 2009/10 season with a total attendance of 221,106. There were 80 performances in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with 150,114 in attendance and 273 community events reaching 59,673 young people and their families. The company toured a small group to Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver for 3 performances and performed at the Cultural Olympiad during the Vancouver Olympics for 4,927 ballet patrons in British Columbia. The National Ballet performed in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre for 3 performances of The Sleeping Beauty with 6,392 people in the audience.

"The past year saw a great many artistic achievements for the company," said Ms. Kain, "with performances that demonstrated the enormous vitality and versatility of our dancers, musicians and production staff, and the depth and cohesion of artistic purpose that we have always tried to display in our work. The year was book ended by two striking productions. It began with a resoundingly successful restaging of one of our great legacy ballets, The Sleeping Beauty. It was stirring to watch a new generation of dancers embrace with such flair and commitment a work with so much history and personal association with the company. The season ended with a rapturous response to our newly designed production of John Cranko's Onegin, with new sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto that allowed audiences - and the dancers themselves - to see this great ballet through new eyes."

"Our passion and determination to bring new works to our stage was exemplified in our productions of Aszure Barton's Watch her and Jorma Elo's Pur ti Miro," continued Ms. Kain. "Both ballets, with their cutting edge choreography and invigorating concepts, showed our dancers' love of creating new work and our audience's appetite for fresh and challenging visions."

"I extend my thanks to the leadership of our Executive Director Kevin Garland who has seen the company through difficult economic times with great spirit and skill, to the artistic, production and administrative staffs, all our dancers and musicians, to the support of our Board of Directors and to our patrons, subscribers and volunteers. The commitment of all these people makes The National Ballet of Canada the wonderfully successful and admired cultural treasure it is today," concluded Ms. Kain.

The Volunteer Committee, The National Ballet of Canada, under President Karen Sparks, continued to raise money for its Build-a-Ballet Fund which has paid for 47 ballets over the past 33 years. Last season, the Volunteer Committee generously funded Pur ti Miro.

Gold service pins are awarded yearly to employees of The National Ballet of Canada who have been with the company for 20 years. Ms. Kain awarded long service pins to Principal Dancer Greta Hodgkinson, First Soloist Rebekah Rimsay, Director of Communications Julia Drake, Associate Director of Audience and Donor Services Veronica McLellan, and from the orchestra's horn section Derek Conrod, Violinists Jayne Maddison and Wendy Rogers, Principal Bassist Hans Preuss and Principal Harpist Lucie Parent.

Interesting to have an award decided by the artistic staff... I know that the RDB has a number of bursaries or awards, all sponsored by external companies or foundations, though I'm not sure whether there are any external persons involved in determining the awardees. I think NYCB and ABT also have internal awards, again not sure who makes the decisions It does seem to me, however, that a monetary award might be more appropriate for corps dancers or dancers earlier in their careers who have lower salaries and far fewer opportunities for outside employment. I'm sure Cote and Ogden are very worthy of the award and will appreciate the funds, but they probably make more than that in one guest appearance, whilst $2500 could be a major bonus for a young corps dancer trying to make ends meet in Toronto.

September 29, 2010... The National Ballet of Canada announced Monday that Principal Dancers Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté are the recipients of the inaugural Rolex Dancers First Award. Artistic Director Karen Kain and Victor Royce, President and CEO of Rolex Canada Ltd. presented the award at a ceremony on September 27 in Toronto

The Rolex Dancers First Award recognizes outstanding performances by a male dancer and a female dancer in the previous season and is juried by a committee of members of the National Ballet's Artistic Staff. Ms. Ogden is recognized for her extraordinary performances in The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Opus 19/The Dreamer and Mr. Côté for his performance as Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. Ms. Ogden and Mr. Côté each received an award of $2,500 and a work by glass artist Robert Buick.

"The National Ballet of Canada's dedication to excellence reflects the same commitment Rolex brings to the artistry and craftsmanship of its watches. It is a great pleasure to be a sponsor of the Dancers First programme which not only recognizes outstanding performances but assists dancers throughout their career." said Mr. Royce.

The award is an essential part of the Dancers First programme. The programme supports all the dancers of the National Ballet with funds for artistic development and health and wellness resources. Currently, there are 13 donors who sponsor dancers through the Dancers First programme.

This is the first year that the award has been sponsored by Rolex Canada. Since its inception, Rolex has always encouraged individual excellence and the pursuit of perfection. In keeping with this long tradition, Rolex continues to contribute to the arts world through its various sponsorship activities.

NBoC will perform Crystal Pite's "Emergence" and Marie Chouinard's "24 Preludes by Chopin" at the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier at the Place des Arts in Montreal, Friday and Saturday, October 15-16, 2010. Victor Swoboda previews the performance in the Montreal Gazette.

Listen to Mrs. K rope a dope before coming to the defence of ballet with a flurry of jabs, kidney punches, and haymakers, as Jennifer Homans (author of Apollo’s Angels with the last chapter, “Is Ballet Over?”) kisses the canvas! Wow! I didn’t know Karen Kain could be so passionate and feisty! You GO Girl! Me thinks Miss Homans certainly has some valid criticism of the art form but I believe many of her conclusions have been inspired by seeing too much ballet, writing too much about ballet, and being too close to ballet.

This is a MUST listen! I want to hear more of this passion from Mrs. K! DO NOT mess with Karen Kain.

_________________The world revolves around the beauty of the ballerina.

The Star previews Cinderella revealing all the hard work along with blood, sweat and tears that goes into making ballet.

Quote:

“By the time Cinderella opens on Thursday, launching the season, members of the National Ballet of Canada will have rehearsed for 250 hours. That’s 2½ hours practice for every one minute on stage.

In rehearsal — seven hours a day, five days a week — dancers pursue beauty, some call it transcendence. Still, it stems from an earthbound work ethic, sweat beading above arched eyebrows and streaking along exquisite jaw lines. T-shirts darken at the neck and in the small of the back. Breathing hardens.”

_________________The world revolves around the beauty of the ballerina.

Interesting that the ballet is offering standing room this season for $12. Quite a bargain, although I'll stick with the rush, since the idea of standing for three hours isn't an appealing one!

Looking forward to seeing Cinderella. I saw it for the first time when it was last offered and actually went back later that week to see it again. Only planning on one viewing this year, but we'll see.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum